1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to a liquid crystal display (LCD) panel, and more particularly, to an LCD panel with at least a repair line structure.
2. Description of the Prior Art
A traditional LCD panel comprises a thin-film transistor (TFT) substrate, a color filter (CF) substrate, and a liquid crystal layer positioned between the TFT substrate and the CF substrate. The TFT substrate contains a plurality of matrix pixels, which consist of a plurality of datalines and a plurality of scan lines, and a plurality of pixel driving circuits consisting of a plurality of electric components, such as thin-film transistors and capacitors. The pixel driving circuits are positioned on the intersections of each data line and each scan line for receiving an image data signal transmitted by the data line and a switching/addressing signal transmitted by the scan line to control operation of each pixel. For avoiding disconnection of data lines or scan lines which cause the failure of signal transmission, the method according to the prior art is to set a plurality of repair lines in the area around the LCD panel. Thus external image data signals or switching/addressing signals are capable of passing through the repair lines to control operation of pixels, and this will avoid the defects of the LCD panel caused by disconnecting data lines.
Please refer to FIG. 1, which is a structure of a prior-art LCD panel 10. As shown in FIG. 1, an LCD panel 10 contains a display area 12 and a non-display area 14 surrounding the display area 12. The display area 12 contains a plurality of matrix pixels 16, which consist of a plurality of data lines 20 and a plurality of scan lines 30, and a plurality of pixel driving circuits consisting of a plurality of electric components, such as thin-film transistors and capacitors. The pixel driving circuits are positioned on the intersections of each data line 20 and each scan line 30. The non-display area 14 contains some package testing materials, such as main sealants, electric components, and repair lines.
Please refer to FIG. 2, which is a section view of the prior-art LCD panel 10. As shown in FIG. 2, the prior-art LCD panel 10 contains a lower substrate (often called a TFT substrate) 40, an upper substrate (often called a CF substrate) 46 covering the lower substrate 40, a liquid crystal layer (not shown in FIG. 2) positioned between the lower substrate 40 and the upper substrate 46 in the display area 12, and a main sealant 52 positioned between the lower substrate 40 and the upper substrate 46 in the non-display area 14 for binding the two substrates. On the lower substrate 40 are a plurality of repair lines 42 in the non-display area 14 and a passivation layer 44, such as a silicon nitride layer, covers on the display area 12 and the non-display area 14. On the surface of the upper substrate 46 are a black matrix 48 in the non-display area 14 and a conductive material layer 50, such as an indium tin oxide (ITO) layer, in both display area 12 and non-display area 14 for being a transparent electrode.
In the structure of the prior-art LCD panel, the conductive material layer 50 completely covers the surface of the upper substrate 46, including the display area 12 and the non-display area 14, and therefore the conductive material layer 50 in the non-display area 14, the repair lines 42 underneath the conductive material layer 50, and the liquid crystal will form a capacitance. The formation of the capacitance causes an RC delay effect to the repair line, and the RC delay decreases the successful rate of using a repair line to repair a disconnecting wire. As the large size LCD panels are developed, to efficiently decrease the RC delay on the repair lines has become an important issue for increasing the yield of the production.